Are you fired up for Thursday's MLB card? If not, check out our betting guide below. It's chocked full of best bets for August 22. Good luck, sports betting compadres!
Note: If you're new to playing MLB openers, always choose Listed Pitchers at your sportsbook. Starting pitchers are often pulled from their starts for a wide variety of weird reasons. The last thing you want is to be on the wrong move of one of those changes.
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MIL at STL - 2:15 PM EDT
Are they really going to give us another insanely good price on the Brew Crew, even with their ace Freddy Peralta on the hill? This line doesn't make a lick of sense. As we've talked about all week long, this Cardinals team is just average on a good day.
Milwaukee has owned St. Louis of late, as they've won 9 of their last 10 against the Red Birds. Things won't be easy for the Cards against Peralta, who has struck out 21 hitters over his last 3 starts. The veteran righty has one of the highest K-rates in baseball, which is why we made this line in the -150 range.
The Brewers have another clear edge with their relievers. Milwaukee's bullpen ranks 13th in K minus BB rate while St. Louis clocks in at just 22nd. The Beer Makers also have a much more consistent offense. Don't overthink it! Play the Beer Makers again on Thursday afternoon!
PHI at ATL - 7:08 PM EDT
I'm pretty bullish on Spencer Schwellenbach, even though he didn't get the win for us last Friday against the Angels. The rookie right-hander is getting more comfortable mixing up his pitches and it's paying off. The 24-year-old has 6 pitches and all of them are flat-out filthy for hitters.
I know that the Phils are one of the best teams in the National League, but their lineup has been in kind of a funk lately. Philadelphia ranks just 17th in WRC+ over the last month. Atlanta, on the other hand, ranks 10th, which is pretty impressive when you consider the unlucky injuries they've endured.
Both of these squads have stacked bullpens, so there's no real edge for either side in that regard. However, I do like that the Braves hit lefties way better than they do righties. Atlanta ranks a respectable 9th in MLB vs. southpaws. I'm hoping that means they'll do some damage against Philly starter Cristopher Sanchez, who hasn't been quite as dominant in 2024.